Beginning Dec. 3, 2014, wound care services at Salem Hospital will transition from Infusion and Wound Care to Salem Health's new Advanced Wound Center. John V. Young, MD, FACS, will serve as the medical director and will provide regular wound care to patients allowing for more extensive wound treatment and resulting in quicker healing in many cases. The wound care location, staff, services and referral process will remain the same.

As a disease/wound treatment management program specializing in nonhealing chronic wounds, this program serves as an adjunct to the referring physician's care. Patients are instructed to continue seeing their current physician for all nonwound medical needs and to return to their physician for ongoing care once their wound is healed.

Refer patients to the Advanced Wound Center when they present with any of the following:

Wounds that fail to heal after 30 days of conventional therapy

Wounds that include abscess, osteomyelitis or necrotic tissue

Wounds involving a tendon, ligament, muscle, bone or joint

Diabetic ulcers, especially when complicated with neuropathy or deformity

Patient treatment is comprehensive and underlying causes are addressed. The program is approximately six to 16 weeks with patient visits every week. Physicians will receive monthly updates on their patients' progress. West Valley Hospital wound care services will transition to Advanced Wound Center in 2015.

Dr. Young has practiced wound care for the past three years and previously practiced general and vascular surgery for more than 20 years in Portland and Eugene.

If you have any questions regarding the Advanced Wound Center program, please call 503-561-5719.

Are you interested in supporting and directing the education goals for the Salem Hospital medical staff and our community? The Continuing Professional Development Committee (CPDC - formerly known as the Continuing Medical Education Committee) and the medical staff would like to invite you to become a member of the CPDC. The Salem Hospital continuing professional development program is accredited with commendation from the Oregon Medical Association. The committee meets six times per year (in addition to an annual retreat) and guides more than 500 hours of continuing medical education for Salem Hospital providers. For more information, contact CPDC Chair John Hannig or call the medical staff office at 503-561-5339.

The No Flu Here League (NFHL) set a new record with 99.43 percent participation, surpassing last year's 98.6 percent participation rate. This represents a whopping 460 more vaccinations than last year!

"These are amazing results, and demonstrate Salem Health's commitment to patient safety and improving the safety of our community," said Nancy O'Connor, NFHL commissioner and employee health infection prevention manager. "According to information from the California Public Health Department, for every fifteen health care workers that receive a flu vaccine, one case of flu is prevented. Based on this information, we can proudly say that Salem Health has prevented 328 cases of flu in our community."

The Healers, Cort Garrison's team made up of the medical staff and medical staff office, recorded 97.9 percent participation.

While the NFHL has ended, Employee Health will continue reporting immunization data to the National Healthcare Safety Network through March 31, 2015. If you have not been vaccinated or submitted a declination, please do so at Employee Health.

The Statesman Journal recently ran a story written by Andrew Clarke, MD, of the Salem Cancer Institute Cancer Committee, on the use of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for early lung cancer detection. Read the full article here.

New dads and dads-to-be will learn the ropes from men who have successfully made the transition to being a father. Discussion topics include what it means to become a dad, forming your new family and caring for new moms. Veteran dads teach skills like burping a baby, diapering, swaddling, ways to comfort crying babies and the value of playing with your baby.

Reducing the risk of recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) with extended duration therapy will be the topic of discussion on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 8 a.m. This presentation will be made by Samuel Louie, MD, a pulmonologist from University of California - Davis Medical Center, and will will take place in the Creekside overflow room. Breakfast will be provided courtesy of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.

To improve our compliance with Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) core measures and improve patient care, there are changes to the adult preoperative order set that may affect your workflow. These changes were effective Nov. 18, 2014. Please read the tip sheet and the SBAR for more information on these changes.

You can find designated clinical documentation specialists for each unit now listed in the "Other" section of Who's On Today. Clinical documentation specialists are posted on each nursing unit as a resource for clinical providers. Please reach out to the nearest specialist if you have any questions about queries you have received, or need any assistance with clinical documentation.

The Magnet Recognition Program® committee has responded on the status of the Salem Hospital application. The reviewing committee made suggestions for improvement to the application and revisions are due Jan. 20, 2015. After submitting the revisions, the Magnet Recognition Program committee will review the application within 30 days and a possible site visit could take place two to four months later.

We are excited to continue our Magnet journey and appreciate your support during this process. The bar continues to be raised and we are ready for the challenge.

To address long wait times getting through to an operator, a special physician priority phone line has been estatblished at the Solution Center for your convenience. The number is 503-814-3278 or 4-FAST from any Salem Health phone. The standard operator number is still the primary method for contacting a switchboard operator.